First things first: There really is no need for anyone to get ahead of themselves banking on a sporting oasis in the desert while the real world worries and deals with a horrific pandemic.

There is no harm in dreaming and certainly no foul in examining any and all contingencies for when — and yes, if — the world of professional sports resumes in 2020, as long a shot as that may seem most days.

While such talk is more premature than proactive, the fact that Major League Baseball has floated the idea of playing the bulk of a season essentially under quarantine in Arizona was certainly met with passionate reaction from multiple sides of the debate.

“I like the fact that they are talking about different plans,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said via text. “That’s a start.”

Is any of it realistic at this point? Likely not, especially if it includes anything happening in the month of May. Even the most optimistic medical expert would confirm that view.

Though MLB touched the brakes on some of the discussion around the Arizona proposal with an official release sent Tuesday afternoon, it’s clear some serious discussion already has been taken place with some progressive ideas emerging.

The nuts and bolts of the plan, first reported by ESPN and the Associated Press, calls for all 30 MLB teams to be based in Arizona where games could be played at as many as 10 spring training venues, as well as Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks.

Games would be played in empty stadiums, of course, with any number of contingencies in place including players sitting social distances apart in the stands rather than in the close quarters of dugouts and balls and strikes being called electronically to keep umpires at bay.

Players and team staff and officials would need to be sequestered in hotels while both MLB and the MLBPA would need to be on board with these conditions lasting for four months or more. And all this before even discussing the economics of the proposal, roster sizes and playing outdoors in scorching heat once the summer months arrive.

If it all sounds a little much at this point, so be it. Clearly, the plan wouldn’t move forward without the necessary government and medical clearances in place and the world would have to be a much different place by a potential early June start date.

Notably, the league didn’t exactly douse the reports when it issued its statement on Tuesday morning. That in itself suggests baseball is serious about finding a way to have a 2020 season, in whatever abridged and reconstructed form it might take. The league office made it clear that the Arizona plan isn’t the only concept under discussion.

“MLB has been actively considering numerous contingency plans that would allow play to commence once the public health situation has improved to the point that it is safe to do so,” the statement read. “While we have discussed the idea of staging games at one location as one potential option, we have not settled on that option or developed a detailed plan.”

A couple of points here: The statement is not a denial and as Montoyo suggests, good on MLB for exploring options. The Arizona model is fraught with potential logistical hiccups and dependent on both a muting of the coronavirus and the ability to create a safe environment, however.

The reality is that the return of any sport over the next several months will almost certainly be of the made-for-TV variety with the only fan consumption coming through a television screen or device.

DRAFT DODGING

At first glance, Shane Farrell was walking into an ideal situation when the Blue Jays hired him for the biggest job of his career.

Who wouldn’t want to be named director of amateur scouting for a team that as a welcoming gift would fork over the fifth overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft?

Farrell, son of former Jays manager John, appreciated much more in the team’s infrastructure under general manager Ross Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro, but having a top-five pick was going to be a nice way to start.

So what’s it like being handed that responsibility in a year where baseball at all levels has been shut down with nothing to scout?

“We have as much as everybody else, an even playing field,” Farrell said of the June draft during a Tuesday conference call with reporters. “It’s going to be how we process that information. The common thought is that we only scout them at this time and that we’re only working with a four-week window when in reality some of these major schools, we’ve been watching them for years.

“We typically have a good grasp on the high school crop at the end of the summer because they’re all playing against their peers. We’re familiar with the group.

“We would, of course, love to have infinite time to scout and evaluate and get to know these guys, but that’s just not the case this year. We’ll make do with what we have at the moment.”

Though the MLB draft generally doesn’t yield the same immediate return as the other North American sports, the Jays find themselves in a prime position they haven’t found themselves in more than two decades. One of the rare benefits of last year’s miserable 67-95 campaign, its the first time they’ll have a top-five pick since they took Vernon Wells at that spot in 1997.

“I’m optimistic about the player pool we have to select from,” Farrell said. “The attention to detail doesn’t change, but the way we go about consuming information and collecting it will change. That’s the biggest takeaway right now. We’re still working through contingency plans through the remainder of the spring.”

Bill Buford spoke about moving to Lyon with his family for a year to write Dirt, and then staying five, about their lives now in New York, and the future ...

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